A Dancer’s Eco-home

︎︎︎Princeton, NJ
︎︎︎November 2019

For this project, I reimagined Josephine Baker's home, originally designed by Adolf Loos. Loos's design of the famous dancer's home was never constructed, but limited sketches of the home are available. After careful research into the architect's impression of Baker, it was clear that Loos constructed the home to display her body in an exoticized, performative way. From the windows in the pool where she was supposed to swim naked, to the easy access the public would have to each of the floors, Baker had little privacy from strangers. I imagine she would feel like she was living in a fish bowl, with no where to hide and no control over how she is seen.  
My redesign of Baker's home uses sustainable technology and greenery to give Baker total control over her performance within the home. Windows to the outside are replaced with translucent solar panels, which are darker from the outside than the inside. The front of the home which faces the street would be covered in hanging vines, creating a camouflage that lets in sunlight.

The home would give the impression of a living organism: converting its own rain water into purified water for the pool and shower, supplying its own energy from the solar panels, and growing its own food on the walls. I believe Baker would feel comfortable in a home that could keep her safe from the outside gaze, and provide for her from the inside. The home is engineered to shift power to her through resource independence.